Tractor-trailers with no one aboard? The future is near for self-driving trucks on US roads

A self-driving tractor trailer manoeuvres around a test track in Pittsburgh, on March 14, 2024. The truck, outfitted with 25 laser, radar and camera sensors, is owned by Pittsburgh-based Aurora Innovation Inc. Late this year, Aurora plans to start hauling freight on Interstate 45 between the Dallas and Houston areas with 20 driverless trucks. — AP

PITTSBURGH: On a three-lane test track along the Monongahela River, an 18-wheel tractor-trailer rounded a curve. No one was on board.

A quarter-mile ahead, the truck’s sensors spotted a trash can blocking one lane and a tire in another. In less than a second, it signalled, moved into the unobstructed lane and rumbled past the obstacles.